


A Late Autumn Evening

by Nontoxic_Markers



Category: Hyper Light Drifter
Genre: Gen, Graphic Descriptions Of Hunting Animals, drifter hungy, drifter is called the traveler since he doesn’t have his name yet, takes place years before cannon story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27855178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nontoxic_Markers/pseuds/Nontoxic_Markers
Summary: A strange, blue skinned traveler walks through a cold forest on a late autumn evening. It’s been quite awhile since he’s eaten anything.. sooo he grabs a bite to eat! This depicts The Drifter king before he even knew what being a drifter was! This takes place many years before the events of Hyper Light Drifter, so you get to see how absolutely feral this man used to be when he was younger.
Kudos: 7





	A Late Autumn Evening

The wind whistled in the air.. the sound of brittle leaves whisking through the breeze.. and the growl of a hungry stomach sounded in the late autumn air. A hungry traveler walked through the leafy floor of the forest, trying to take his mind off of the churning pain in his stomach. 

“Gods.. how long has it been since I ate?”

He murmured to himself as he clutched his stomach with his black gloved clawed hands. His short white hair spilling over his shoulders, but only barely. The chill of the air was only helped by the travelers heavyweight uniform, and torn brown cloak draped over him. It would be much harder to wash himself with the cold weather approaching. Summers were easy since he could simply find a pond or lake that looked, at least somewhat clear and scrub himself off, as well as wash his own clothes. Springs were even easier, with the near constant rain washing him itself. But falls and winters, he practically never bathed.. and gods, it was _very_ uncomfortable. Among the many other discomforts of the colder weather.. needless to say, he hated winter. But, like with most things about existence, there was nothing he could do but try to adapt. One winter, he could feel a snowstorm approaching at the most inconvenient of locations, the middle of goddamn nowhere. Soon finding out how very unhelpful hiding in a cold wet cave was, his luck turned around for the better when he found a large beast asleep in the same cave. It was a bit of a struggle, but soon after the encounter, the traveler found himself taking a long warm nap inside the carcass of a freshly killed beast until the storm passed. Excessive? Maybe. But hey, nothing about that creature went to waste. The fur sold for a pretty decent bargain! Gutting it and taking all the meat he could out of it, he ate for weeks after that, and the bones made for a pretty nice soup broth.   
_Groooaan_  
Oh yeah. Hungry.

The blue skinned traveler sat beside a tree, head dizzy from the hunger he felt. If he didn’t eat something soon, there’s no way he’d have the strength to make it to his next stop on time. He breathed deep, before digging through the _many_ pockets on his uniform, he pulled out a small, blue and red bot. The paint had faded and the lens was cracked.. it looked like some sort of moss had grown over it, as there were multiple green spots on it. It was indefinitely busted, he had known that much, but color him curious to find out what this thing actually _was_. He put it back in his breast pocket and wrapped the tattered cape around him. He had found the bot, his sword and the cape awhile ago, off of a strange individuals corpse. Since then he had seen many other corpses like that one.. all sharing the same gear.. a sword, a cloak and a bot. But none of them were really as good as what he currently had... which was honestly kinda sad considering the state of his gear.. found in a foot of mud and gunk, only barely salvaged. The light sword he found had been fixed quite awhile ago, but before then, it would only activate for a few seconds before fizzing out. Now, while it wasn’t the best, it was atleast usable. Suddenly, his long pointed ears twitched, hearing the sound of rustling to his right. That swords usability was about to _reaally_ come in handy now. The travelers heart pounded, this could simply be an animal to hunt, but there was always the chance that it was another traveler... and that was not going to go well in his current condition. He ducked behind the tree, listening for whatever was passing through. The sifting of leaves was faint, not that it was far, just that the steps were light. A bit more comforting.. just comforting enough for him to peak around and see what exactly he was looking at. Luck was on his side today, a fuzzy creature with antlers bounded out onto the path he walked. The orange and yellow sky as the sun set gleaming in the creatures eyes. The traveler stalked it, quietly watching and swiftly and quietly moving around, attempting to get close enough to it, and find a good opening. In a small and leafy bush he hid.. almost a few feet away from the animal. Suddenly he leaped from the bushes, hard light blade activated as he tackled the creature. Landing on its back he tried to stab it in the neck, but it thrashed and kicked, attempting to throw him off. But he wasn’t getting off that easy. He dug his sharp claws into it, to which it then started to run around, still desperately trying to throw him off, knocking him into the trees. The traveler hissed violently being slammed into a few trees and dropping his sword. So much for that. The traveler growled like a feral animal.. growing increasingly frustrated, baring his sharp, bright red teeth. As quick as he could he bit down hard onto the animal, aiming for its neck. Due to how they were moving however, this only really led to the traveler taking a chunk out of its upper back. The creature _screamed_ kicking the predator off of its back and running off. The man stood up, clutching his stomach as he swallowed the chunk he ripped out of its back. He _had_ to catch that thing.   
Picking his sword back up he darted after the creature, which was already waay ahead of him and losing him fast. This creature outpaced him by a landslide, he had to act fast. His frazzled mind acting on the first impulse he had, activating the sword and chucking it at the creature. It looked like it was actually going to hit it... for about a second before it thwacked into a tree branch. Cant say he didn’t try. His lungs burned.. the cold air and how out of breath he was.. he broke into a coughing fit, losing his focus and tripping on a root, collapsing onto his stomach as he practically coughed his lungs up. The traveler heaved, looking into his arm, only to find he had coughed up a small amount of blood again. Great. More of this, and now the animal was surely gone. As the fit subsided, he wiped the blood off of his face, both belonging to the animal and himself. He walked back to pick up his sword only to hear a distant screech. His ears perked up once more, and he ran over to investigate. Upon arriving at the sound, he was met with the sight of the creature impaled on a spear that shot from the ground. A hunter trap! A lucky break, that is if he could move this beast away without the owner of the trap seeing.. and if he could not get caught in one of those himself. The creature was still alive, staring at the travelers pitch black eyes with an unending fear. He sighed, quickly stabbing the creature through the head, killing it near instantly. Atleast it wasn’t left to just bleed out in a trap. The traveler wouldn’t let a single bit its body go to waste, as per usual with animals he hunts. Carefully and quietly he hoisted the creature off of the spike, setting it on the ground and dragging it into a bush. If the hunter was to return, the traveler could be much better hidden. He skinned and gutted the animal, taking its pelt, meat, organs and bones and putting them in a small, torn backpack he carried with him. With everything that he could collect, collected, he snuck out of the bushes and hurried off into a secluded area.  
  


It was a cold autumn night, the sky black as charcoal and the stars shimmering silver. The wind still whistling and leaves still rustling. Though now, the sound of a hungry stomach was no longer heard, only the crackling of a campfire, as a hungry traveler happily eats his meal.


End file.
